Denver's East High School celebrates 150 years; time capsule to be reopened
Denver's East High School is celebrating 150 years as an educational institution this year. East was a high school before Colorado was officially a state!
It started off as a one-room schoolhouse called the Union School in 1859 and that was quickly moved to a building at 14th and Market in downtown Denver.
In 1873, Arapahoe School opened on Arapahoe Street between 17th and 18th as Denver's first high school.
That school continued to grow as did Denver. In 1889, Old East was opened on Stout Street between 19th and 20th.
Nearly 40 years later, in 1925, East High School opened on its current location between Colfax Avenue and 17th Avenue near Denver's City Park.
Sleuths from East High School's museum club returned to the school this summer to see what was behind a plaque at the school's entrance. They found a box that students had reported missing 70 years ago.
The plaque revealed a panel with student initials from 1931. Inside, they found boxes from the current 100-year-old East High School building's dedication and also from the original Arapahoe School. "I was mostly struck by just how well preserved all of these artifacts were. They're from almost a hundred years ago but they look like they could have been placed there just yesterday," said East Museum Club Member Aidan Mills.
Next month, both boxes will be opened at a special ceremony and one East Angel looks forward to learning from those who came before.
"Things aren't interesting. People are. It's the stories, 150 years of stories and memories that have come through East High School. And working with the museum is giving me the immense privilege of being like a keeper and a learner of those stories, hoping to preserve them for future generations," said Keegan Hoelscher with East High's Museum Club.
East High School's Museum Club will not only study what is in the time capsule boxes but they will also create their own box with memorabilia reflecting student life at East in 2025.